Improved floating-dock



the dock.

UNITED STATES EDWARD rUnNEn., or BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, AssiGNoE To sIMo eoLIBAE'r, 0E SAME PLAGE.

dit@ drawing de,

es r11/orali, prin PATENT OFFICE.

IMPROVED FLOATlNG-DOCK.

Specifica-tion forming part of Letters Patent No. 47, 50 l, dated April 25,- 1865.

To a/ZZ whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, EDWARD TURNER, of the city and county of Baltimore, State of Maryland, have invented a new and Improved Marine Dock; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section through the pontons, showing one of the supporting-frames and the contrivanees for elevating and depressing it. Fig. 2 is a top View of the marine dock.

Similar letters of4 reference indicate corresponding parts in the two figures.

This invention relates to certain novel improvements 'in --floatingdocks, which are intended for elevating vessels out of water for repairing them, or transporting theln over bars or other shallow places into deep water.

The object of my invention is to avoid the liability of straining the hull of a vessel dur. ing the operation of elevating it from the water, and 4-also' to avoid the necessity of sinking the docks or pontons and then pumping out the water from them, for the purpose of elevating a vessel. y

By my invention I am enabled to use the pontons for work-shops for the workmen employed upon the dock, and to elevate a vessel at pleasure andat any desired height, so that the men can have access to every part of the hull and a steady foundation upon which to stand while at work.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand my invention,I will describe its construction and operation.

A A are two p ontons, which may be made 'of any suitable capacity, and which maybe' somewhat longer than the length of the largest vessel which they are capable of floating. These pontons may be made with flat bottoms or with keels, and they may be furnished with bulkheads. They should be of an uniform size and floating capacity, and they may be provided with all the facilities for 'propellin g them through the water either singly or together. The decks of the pontons are flat, and upon these decks I propose to erect workshops for the workmen who are engaged upon The sides of the pontons are flat and parallel to each other. y Each one of the pontons is provided with a number of screwshafts, B B, which extend down through the deck and hull, as shown in Fig. 1 of-the drawings, and are suitably connected at their lower ends to a trussed frame or frames, aswill be hereinafter described. Each one of the screw shaft-s B of both pontons passes through a nut,l a, which has teeth on its circumference that engage with a worm-screw, b.

These spurred nuts and worm-screws are located upon the decks of `the po1`1tons,and they are rotated by means of spurwheels c-c and shafts C C. ,Each ponton is provided with a shaft, C, extending past each one of the screws B, so 'that by turning this shaft .all the screws which connect with it will be-elevated or depressed simultaneously according to the direction in which the shaft is turned. It is important that the threads of the screw-shafts of both pontons be made of a uniform size, and also that the gearing which is used for communicating motion to said shafts from the longitudinal shafts() G be of a uniform size, so that when the two shafts (l G are turned at .the same speed their respective screw shafts will move at a uniform speed. l

The pinion-wheels G ou the shafts CC are so applied thereto that they can be moved out of gear with the spur-wheels c on the shafts of the worm-screws b when it is .desired to move,

the screw-shafts `B independently of each other, for a purpose which will be presently described. l'

Tothe lower extremities ofthe screwlshafts i B B'ofy both pontons I suitably secure the frames D D D, which extend transversely be'- 1 neath the pontons and at right angles to the length thereof. Each frameis suspended Yby two screw-shafts, which are directly opposite* p for preventingthe frame D from careeningwhen la load is upon it and it is being elevated or depressed. The elevated portions of the frames D D D are each provided with ways e e, for receiving and guiding the laterally-movable chuck-blocks F F, which can be operated by means of pulleys and cords by persons standing upon the decks of the pontons. These blocks F are for the purposel of chuckin g or stead yin ga vessel when mounted upon the elevators or fra-mes D. In coniunction with these steadying-blocks, chainstays may be employed for assisting in steadyng the vessel when it is in the dock. Such chains may be attached to the vertical guides D D, or to the pontons, whichever way may be found most convenient. The frames D are attached to their respective pairs of screw-shafts by means of bolts t' fi, which, after being inserted in place, have keys passed through their ends for preventing them from casual displacement. These frames may be permanently securedto their elevatingscrews, but I prefer to make the attachment as above stated for the reason that the frames can all be detached from their screws and stowed away upon the` pontons when it is desired to transport the dock from one place to another. By sending divers beneath the pontons they can easily make the connections of the frames with their shai'ts. .The screw-shafts B B should be-l of such length as to allow-the uppermost horizontal beams of the frames D to be depressed beneath the surface of the water sufficiently far to pass l rectly in the center of the w idth of each ponton these screw-shaftsare arranged as shown in the drawings.' y

When it is desired to elevate a vessel'by means of my floating-dock, the frames D D D are depressed a sutiicient distance to admit of their passing beneath the keel of `the vessel..

They dock is now floated up to the vesseland the frames brought. beneath the same, or the vessel may be iioated between 'the pontons As the keelof a vessel is somewhat curving, it will be necessary to adjust the frames D to its bottom before commencing to elevate it. v This may be readily done by disengaging the spurwheels c on the shafts C C? from those on the worm-shafts b b, and turning the screws B B until the frames are'each brought up against the keel of the vessel,- after which the spurwheels c are again moved in gear with the spurs and power applied to turn the' two shaftsC C at a Vuniform speed, so as to elevate Y' the frames D simultaneously, and thus raise the vessel which is supported upon them.

It will be seen from the above description of my floatingdock that I amv enabled to elevate a vessel by means of -power employed upon 'the decks of the pontons instead of first lling the pontons with water in order to sink them beneath the vessel to be-raised and then pumping out the waterto bring the whole to the surface again.-

The great object ot' my invention is to afford a iirm support for every part of a vessel which is being raised out of the water, so that its own weight will not cause it to strain any portion of the hull or the timbers thereof. This can only be done practically by means substantially as I have shown in the above description.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters yPatent, ist f l l. So constructing a iioating-dock that a vessel may be raised bodily out of water and suspended between iioats or pontons upon vertically-adj ustable frames or elevators, substantially as described.

2. The use oi' vertically-adjustable frames D D, in combination with pontoons .A A, and

mechanism applied to these latter which is adapted for adjusting the frames independently of eacli other, or simultaneously, substantially as described. 3. The employment of guides D D', in conjunction' with thewelevating-frames D D and tioats A A, substantially as dxscribed.

Witness my hand in matter of my applica` tion for a patent for improvement in loatinge docks.

EDWD. TURNER. Witnesses:

- R.`T.GAMPBELL, ESCHAFER. 

